Introduction
Since 1970, CO2 emissions have increased by 90%, mostly due to the increase in fossil fuel consumption and industrial processes. The effects of this trend are drastic, leading to global warming, air pollution, and other destructive environmental consequences. This project aims to visualize society’s carbon footprint, through the lens of energy consumption, both renewable and non-renewable. Then focusing on the United States, we want to illustrate to the general public which regions have the highest carbon footprint. Finally, we want to show how you can decrease your overall carbon footprint based on your lifestyle.
Average US Household Carbon Emissions
Consumption and Emissions Trends
The world’s energy consumption is an important factor to consider when discussing our carbon footprint and emissions. Historically, the world’s consumption of non-renewable energy far exceeded the consumption of renewable energy. In fact, renewable energy consumption increased over the past couple of decades, with fossil fuels, oil, and coal being the most-consumed energy source. Click through and interact with the visualizations below to learn more about the world’s energy consumption breakdown (in terawatt-hours):
Carbon Emissions Analysis
The problem with consuming so much non-renewable energy like fossil fuels is the impact that has on the environment. The visualization below shows a clear relationship between countries’ non-renewable consumption and CO2 emissions, with both metrics increasing over time. Check out the visualizations below to see how CO2 emissions (in metric tons) and non-renewable energy consumption changed over time for countries around the world:
US Trends
The differences in geography and level of urbanization across the US mean that energy consumption trends can vary wildly between different areas. To better understand and display these trends, we’ve explored data tracking the tons of CO2 emitted yearly by zip codes across the country. The chart below displays this data in a more readable fashion, with dot color indicating the average footprint of a household within the zip code and dot size indicating total footprint of the region. Explore the different emission trends across the country by using the sliders below the visualization to filter the data and mouse over individual points to see exact values for specific zip codes: